


Fallout February

by SpicyGoddess



Series: New Vegas AU [3]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas, Marble Hornets
Genre: Boone is in chapters 2 4 6 and 7, aaa a lot of its cross over kind of?, all take place in new vegas, arcade is in chapter 4, legion centric in chapter 8, not all original characters are mine as its weird to explain, some chapters are unnamed couriers, the legion - Freeform, using mh character in the fallout universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22799296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyGoddess/pseuds/SpicyGoddess
Summary: Collection of Fallout February prompts :)
Series: New Vegas AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695664
Kudos: 1





	1. Radiation

**Author's Note:**

> All chapters will take place in the New Vegas part of the Fallout universe because that's the only game I've played. All works are also posted on Tumblr at https://castleofshit.tumblr.com/

“Oh, a friend of mine has a location he thinks you should check out, here I’ll mark it for you,” Skully said when Eder was ready to leave the bar. Eder didn’t hesitate to unstrap the pip-boy from his wrist and hand it over to the bartender. Skully always had a way of proving him with locations and information that ended up helping him when he needed it most. The courier didn’t doubt that this time would be any different.

“There,” Skully finished what he was doing and handed the object back. “Might not want to mention that one to your brother though. Reckon he wouldn’t be happy with me if he knew where I was sending you.” The bartender laughed a little as Eder reattached the pip-boy to his wrist.

“Why is that?” The courier asked curiously, before glancing down at his map. “Oh.”

“Whatever you find out there you stumbled across on your own.” Skully half joked before grabbing a glass and inspecting it against the morning light streaming through the windows. “Best get a move on before the sun gets too high.”

Eder thanked him before stepping out into the wasteland.

\--------

The location brought him out near Camp Searchlight. The camp wasn’t where Skully had intended for him to go, but the other definitely knew that he would go investigating the camp he had previously only heard about in passing.

He had always thought what had occurred at the camp as an unnecessary and cruel war tactic, never anything more. Rarely had he thought about outside of conversations where it was the main topic and he had no intention of changing that. However, his opinions on the camp changed the second he caught sight of the air that had become green with radiation. At that moment he knew the sight would be burned into his mind, right alongside Nipton. 

He was furious with the Legion for doing this to the camp, but what infuriated him more was the sight of a New California Republic flag, and a small group of tents around a fire ring located just outside the cloud of green air; yet close enough to still be at risk of the ill effects of radiation. Eder knew one strong gust of wind and it would be the only air those men had available.

Eder knew any one of them could face an early death due to their superiors decision to place them so close to the place that used to be an NCR base. More importantly to him, any one of those men could have been his brother.

This realization infuriated him, at that moment he decided he would take it up with those at Camp Mccarran. Even in his furry though, he could hear those in charge telling him “We just don’t have enough supplies for them.” “They are a smaller camp, they don’t need those supplies.” Those men are doing a service to their country by being there.” And “There is good reasoning for their positioning”

In Eder’s mind no good reason was good enough to justify killing innocent men and women in one of the most cruel ways imaginable.

With the knowledge that this predicament would likely never be properly solved, he walked into the camp and struck up conversation with the soldiers about their day to day life. He was no stranger to stories of lack of supplies and hopelessness many soldiers had after months in an undersupplied camp, yet these soldiers shocked him with how accepting they were with their fate. As one soldier who looked a mere five years short of Eder’s own age put it, “At this point I’m just hopin’ one of those ghouls gets me before the radiation poisoning does.”

When he left a few hours later his pack was a few pounds lighter, with an absence of the doctors bags, rad-x, and radaway his brother had supplied him only a few days before. As he walked, he fiddled with his pip-boy, making a note to himself, before turning on the radio and continuing down the road.

Months later a large delivery was made to the camp, consisting of rad-x, radaway, and bullets that those running the camp had mentioned to a stranger in a red mask long ago.


	2. Delirium

“Fuck!” the shout from the courier was one of both pain and anger as the cazador he and Boone were taking on managed to sting him in the arm. He snarled as he steadied his hand gun with his other arm, hoping to cripple the giant insect. His shot missed, but a second one rang out, killing the final member of the pack.

Eder shook out his injured arm, before rifling through his stuff. He huffed an annoyance as he failed to find what he was looking for. He tilted his head towards his friend, “Any chance you have a stimpack?” 

Boone patted down his many pockets and came up empty as well. Eder sighed loudly through his nose. 

“Might want to head to the Old Mormon fort or Westside to see if they have anything.” Boone suggested, as Eder went through his bag, this time pulling out a knife.

“Yeah, probably.” Eder agreed while stepping towards the cazadors bodies, “We will head over there after this.”

\----

“Supid fucking courier,” Boone muttered to himself as said courier once again shifted out of his blankets and attempted to stand. Boone sighed to himself as, for the sixth time since the sun had set, he had to make his way across their small camp to push him back down and pull the blanket on the other back up.

“Relax, you need to rest.” He simply stated, though a little gentler than he normally would have spoken. Once the courier seemed to settle, the sniper began to stand back up. Before he could even get fully to his feet, the courier’s hand snapped out from underneath the blanket and trapped Boones wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. Boone quickly looked at the other, startled, and was greeted with the unsettling sight of his friends teared up eyes staring back into his.

“Please do not leave me again.” The courier's voice wavered in a mix of desperation, sadness, and fear, a mix of emotions the sniper had never heard before. It confused him, scared him even, but he slowly sat down. Unsettled as he was, Boone didn't mind sitting with his friend if it would keep him calm while the cazadors poison ran through his system.

-

“I need to get up and grab you a water bottle,” Ark spoke to him while he was on the verge of sleep. Eder peaked open his eyes halfway to see his friend with a hand on the ground, ready to push himself up from his sitting position.

“Okay, be back soon?” he asked sleepily, but hopefully. 

“Yeah”

True to his word, Ark returned only moments later with dirty water in his hand, “It is all we have.”

Eder didn’t mind, so he sat up and drank from the water when it was handed to him, “It is fine, Ark,” he said between sips, “everything is alright, as long as you are here with me.”

He didn’t get to see the others reaction as he suddenly felt extremely woozy. He closed his eyes and grabbed his head in an attempt to mitigate the effects.

He felt the water bottle leave his hand and Ark’s voice calmly say, “Better get you back to bed”

Eder felt a hand gently push him back to the ground, an action that he didn’t have the energy to argue at the moment

\--

Eder blinked the early morning sunlight out of his eyes and was greeted with the smell of the eggs he and Boone harvested the other day. He looked around confused for a moment, looking for something, what, he himself wasn’t entirely sure of. Eventually his eyes settled on Boone.

“Shit, you could have woken me for one of the shifts.” His voice sounded exhausted even to his own ears.

Boone simply shrugged, focusing on the eggs, “I dunno, you were pretty out of it last night.”

Eder picked his way out of the blanket that had been set on him the night before, “I was?” he asked, confused.

“Yeah,” Boone said, ending the conversation there before handing Eder some of the eggs.

They ate mostly in silence until Eder spoke up, “We can stay here awhile longer so you can get some sleep, or we can head to New Vegas and rest there.”

Boone poked at the final pieces of eggs, thinking it over, “Think we should go to New Vegas, get the traveling over with before it gets too hot.”

Eder agreed, packing up their things while Boone snuffed out the fire. They were well on their way to the city, before the sun was even a quarter of the way into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ark is https://436865636b65726564736f756c.tumblr.com/ 's character : 3


	3. Wasteland Holidays and Traditions

When Eder and Brian went to enter the bar, they did not expect it to be locked. The twins exchanged a glance before Eder went around back to find a note along the exit door, reading simply.

‘Will be three miles north east of town, see you soon, : )’

The courier pulled it off the door then continued around front to meet with his brother.

“Found this,” he said holding up the note for his twin to see. “Guess we should go meet him.” 

Brian, grabbed the note, scanning it quickly, “Alright, don’t see why he’d be over there though. There’s nothing out there.” 

Eder shrugged, but led the way out of town and into the surrounding desert, his brother following close behind. “Maybe he went looking for plants and stuff. Could be trying to make a new drink.” 

“That’s probably it...but I don’t see why he wouldn’t just send someone else out to do it.” Brian thought for a moment “Unless he left a few days ago and got hurt out there?”

Eder shook his head, “No, if that had happened I am sure we would have heard about it.”

“Yeah if we had seen anyone in town.” Brian somewhat grumbled then seemed to suddenly become concerned, “Uh, you saw someone in town right?”

Eder kept walking and pretended not to be as bothered by his brother's question as he actually was. He too had noticed the distinct absence of people in the town. “Yeah,” he lied after hearing the anxiety in his brothers voice, “saw Wilson or whatever his name was in the window of the house across from the bar.” 

Brian seemed to accept the answer and didn’t comment on the couriers increase in pace as they walked.

A little over half an hour later, they crested a hill and saw their favorite bartender at the base on the other side along with Skully’s friend, who’s name Eder couldn’t recall. It turned out his brother did as he let out a loud shout.

“Skully!!! Seth!!!!”

Both of them jumped a little at the sudden shout. Eder couldn’t blame them as even he winced a little at the sheer volume of his brother's voice. Before Eder could hassel him about it though, Brian took off down the hill, already talking a mile a minute.

“Where were you guys??? We thought something bad happened, we didn’t see anyone in town and thought that note might have been a few days old, how’d you know we’d read it anyway???”

Eder let his brothers questions fade into background noise as he made his way down the hill at a much slower pace. When he reached the base he heard Skully speak up after Brian asked yet another question.

“We’re gathering tumbleweeds,” He gestured to three large tumbleweeds that neither of the twins had noticed earlier. “Towns making the yearly holiday tree out of them.” 

“Woah! That's actually really cool! How do you guys make it so they all stay together?” Brian asked, genuinely curious.

Seth smiled a little, “Town secret. If you help carry these back we might be able to tell you.”

Brian was always one who was willing to help at the drop of the hat, but Eder had never seen his brother agree to anything so quickly. 

The four of them managed to bring back five tumbleweeds between the four of them, due to Brian’s insistence on stacking a pair and carrying them.

By nightfall the tree had been built.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skully is https://youkoartemis.tumblr.com/ 's hot take on the character and is the skully that will always be used in this series :)


	4. Comradery

“So…” Six trailed off in that tone of voice that most of his companions knew meant trouble, though both Boone and Arcade wisely chose to stay silent about it, despite their shared glance of concern.

ED-E decided to beep curiously, giving the courier the opportunity to speak again. Not that he needed one, everyone in the room knew he’d start talking, prompted or not. 

“I found this old book that has recipes and stuff in it and I think it would be really fun to try to make stuff from it!” The courier explained as he rifled through his bag, producing a book with a checkered red and white cover which he proudly displayed to his companions. 

Arcade was the first out of the three to speak, as he knew Boone and ED-E would just go along with whatever plan the courier came up with. “Uh, no offence Six, but maybe that isn’t the best idea? There's no guarantee we’ll be able to make anything in that book.”

“Yeah, but that’s no reason to not try! Besides, it'll be fun!” Arcades hesitance hadn’t dampened the couriers mood in the slightest, not that he had really expected it to.

ED-E played a small tune indicating agreement, and Arcade couldn’t help but glare at the machine for supporting the courier in this particular situation.

“See Ed-E agrees! What do you think, Boone?” The courier turned to his friend who had chosen to stay silent for most of the conversation.

The sniper shrugged, “Probably won’t hurt anybody.” 

The entire project very much did hurt somebody, at least it did in Arcade’s opinion as he felt like he couldn’t quite breathe past the flour in his throat. The courier didn’t seem to notice as he was too busy laughing at his friend whose face was now coated in flour. After a hearty coughing fit, which did earn him a few too hard back parts, he had a chance to wipe off his glasses and give an unimpressed look to his friends.

The courier didn’t seem to notice, as his attention had already shifted to the next step. 

“We need uh, milk!” The courier paused, “Ah shit, we don’t have milk.”

“Probably should have checked to make sure we had everything _ before  _ beginning,” Arcade helpfully pointed out, not that it mattered now.

The courier shrugged, “That’s alright! Boone and I can go get supplies while you and ED-E stay here!” 

Arcade didn’t bother to argue, “Just make sure you read the rest of the list before going.”

-

Later, Arcade wouldn’t deny that he did have fun, of course only after everything was in order and they had begun properly making their cake. It was nice to be around friends, people and machines that he mostly trusted and could appreciate conversation with as the radio droned on in the background. 

Once the cake was in the oven the small group had decided to reward their hard work with a few bottles of sarsaparilla, and casual conversation. Said conversation only ended when a strange smell had emerged from the oven and ED-E suddenly started beeping rapidly and circling around the room. Boone was first to be out of his seat and had begun rummaging around for an oven mitt before the other two had a chance to react.

The courier was second to move, pausing as the gears in his head slotted into place before leaping out of his seat, dashing across the room, and swinging the oven open, already reaching his hand in before it had fully opened. Realizing what was about to occur Arcade shouted a desperate “NO!”

But it was too late, the courier had made contact, grasped the pan, then pulled away just as quickly with it still in his grip. He released it once his arm was already halfway out, sending the pan down at an angle to splat on the floor. 

Or at least it would have if Boone hadn’t found an oven mitt and in an amazing feat of speed and skill, caught the thing just before it hit the floor.

Arcade made his way across the kitchen, and quickly grabbed the couriers arm and led him to the sink, turned it on then instructing him to hold it under the water. He then kicked the oven shut with the toe of his boot as he made his way out of the kitchen to the nearest first aid kit. 

So much for no one getting hurt.


	5. Improvised Weapons and Tools

Brian was not a fighter. He never had interest in it, always trying to take the non violent route whenever possible. In most cases, his good nature and humor seemed to de-escalate situations before they could get truly messy. To him, healing was more important to fighting. Cheer more important than fury 

Eder on the other hand had a different view. Sometimes, people just need to be punched and he never hesitated to do it. Where Brian may have gently admonished someone then made light of it before they could truly get fired up, Eder would go in swinging. 

Which resulted in him getting in his fair share of scraps on more than one occasion. 

Brian was not a fighter, but when the bottle came for his brother's head, Brian didn't hesitate to push his brother out of the way then reach for the object nearest to him. 

Eder was used to getting into fights then out of them on his own, but he wasn’t used to being pushed to the ground, then seconds later having a rush of air run across him from his brother swinging a chair at the man who had just attempted to attack him. 

His brother wasn’t a fighter, but he definitely didn't hesitate to smash that chair into the man's torso, resulting in a shout of anger and a dangerous creak of ancient wood protesting under the stress. 

The man was not too pleased with this as his attention shifted from the courier on the floor to the NCR medic who had just hit him. He snarled in rage while Brian was left standing shocked by how he had reacted. 

The man swung with his left and Brian ducked as the fist came dangerously close to his face. In the process he dropped the chair to the ground, and elected to put his own fists up in a defensive position. 

Before anymore damage could be done to anyone by anyone in the bar a single shot rang out.

All heads turned to the counter where an angry bartender scowled at the three men at the side of the bar. 

“Y’all should know better than to behave like that in my establishment,” He said calmly, despite the dangerous flash in his eyes. “Hate cleaning blood off my floor. Best get out of here before I add to it myself.” 

With those final words he put his pistol back at his hip, picked up the old rag sitting on the counter, and continued to clean his glass.

The twins exchanged a look and as one they exited without argument. The man opened his mouth to say something, most likely berate the bartender, but said bartender had looked up, pausing in his cleaning and simply smiled. 

He left the bar without a word, intending to continue the brawl outside, only neither of the twins could be found.


	6. Ruin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: GORE It's toward the middle end

He had begun preparations weeks ago for this, collecting amo, jury rigging together weapons, making them stronger or even inventing new strange weapons. After nearly a month he felt ready, and stepped out of his hotel room in Novak to finally put his plan in action. 

Eder quickly descended the rotting wood staircase and crossed the court yard to Dinky, almost bouncing with nervous energy about what he was about to do. He wasn’t giddy to go, no, he had learned long ago that going to kill people for any reason was never anything to be giddy about. But what he was about to do, well he couldn’t fail, to him the future of the Mojave, the future of the entire southwest depended on it.

He planted his foot on the first of the ten wooden steps leading up to the door of the dinosaur and hesitated. He glanced up at the dinosaur, seeing its head framed by the stars, the brief hesitation did not last long though, as he lifted his other foot and climbed the stares into the dinosaur then up to the sniper nest. 

-

“Wait here,” Eder spoke softly before crouching down and inching his way out of cover to get a clear line of sight on the camp below. 

Looking through his rifle sight he scanned the land below and froze. “Uhhh, Boone, come take a look at this.”

Eder heard a grunt then the shifting of fabric before he heard a mass settle on the ground next to him. “Just...look.” 

A few moments of silence then a soft exhale from his partner. “Looks like an ambush. Can’t tell what it was from at this distance.” 

Eder pushed himself up to a low crouch. “I am going to check it out, you stay here. If you see something that is not right, shoot it.”

Boone stayed where he was, “Do me a favor and don’t get killed down there. Your brother will have my head if you do.” 

That got a snort from the courier, “Yes sir,” he gave a mock salute before beginning to descend the hill to the camp. 

-

It was nearly noon when Eder started heading back up the hill, Boone stayed in place where he was left just in case someone or something chose to ambush his friend while he was on his way up.

Eder gestured vaguely to the rock they had hid behind earlier in the night and simply said “Shade.”

Once they were behind the rock and in the small amount of shade offered by it, the courier started talking. “Was not animals, they all had bullet holes in them. Or had been stabbed by their own spears.” Eder paused as though considering if he should even give Boone the next piece of information. He hid his hesitation behind a drink of water. “The gate to where the slaves were kept was opened and the collars were on the ground. Whoever did this seems to be an ally.”

Boone took the information in. “You still want to get to the fort?”

“Yes,” Eder responded quickly, “The boat was still there so they probably did not cross the Colorado. Guess it is still up to us to put a bullet in that bastards head.”

Boone nodded, “We should rest first and make our way across tonight.”

\- 

The water was calm when Eder kicked them off the pier and into the river, “We head up a few miles I believe. A trader said there would be a large gate and I guess that is when we will know we arrived.” 

Boone nodded then set up his rifle toward the front of the raft, “Just in case they see us coming.”

They did not need to worry about the Legion spotting their arrival as two hours later they noticed an orange glow reflecting off the water. The pair exchanged a glance but pressed on. They rounded the final bend to see the hill in front of them set ablaze. 

“That…” Eder trailed off. 

“Yeah.”

They pressed onward to the dock where the gates still stood intact but open to the world beyond. They were greeted by fallen bodies dressed in crimson. 

“Hope they are friendly…” Eder muttered to himself before speaking louder to Boone, “Check to see if there are any survivors. Lead them back to the boat if they are friendly. I will see if whoever did this got Caesar.” 

Before his companion could reply, Eder took off up the hill. Boone huffed but did as he was told.

As he approached the upper gate, Eder noticed that the smoke was thicker, but he had to see what had happened with his own eyes. He adjusted his bandana to hold more firmly against his mouth and nose, then pressed through the gate with his shoulder, revolver already drawn.

He was greeted to the sight of tents on fire to either side of the path that once led through the camp. He quickly followed it to the sole tent not lit by fire. He ran up the hill that led to it, grabbed the flap, pulled it open, then froze where he stood. 

His eyes looked at the spears firmly planted in a neat circle at the center of the tent, then he followed them up to the heads of the men who once helped command the crimson army as Caesar's best. His eyes then took a moment to sweep across the entire ceiling of the tents, and quickly he picked up on some sort of string holding…

He took a moment to turn away and throw up at the sight of limbs and organs strung up across the courtyard between the tents, above the heads of Caesar's top command. He had witnessed all sorts of cruelties and gore before, but the sight inside the tent was one of the most intense he had ever seen. 

Still, not seeing Caesar he entered the tent once more, legs shaking ever so slightly in a mix of fear and adrenaline as he walked in.

He quickly found what he was looking for between the heads of the Legions top men. There on the ground lay the head of Caesar at the junction of where nine burn marks formed a star. 

Eder didn’t stick around any longer than that, nearly running out of the tent.

He took a moment to collect himself once he was an acceptable distance away, standing until his breathing was no longer ragged. Once collected, he straightened his posture and walked to the portion of the camp behind the main tent. He still had one more thing to do before he could leave the ruins of what once was the Legion’s largest camp.

-

Boone was waiting impatiently at the raft, when Eder finally exited the camp with five adults in grey rags and two children dressed in the crimson armor of the Legion army. Boone didn’t have the energy to argue about bringing them aboard, and one look from Eder told him he wouldn’t accept arguments even if he had them. 

Eder didn’t speak again until they were half way across the river.

“I will take them up to New Vegas. I know someone near there who can help with trauma. We will stop near Boulder City to meet with Brian. Once we meet with him you are welcome to return to Novac. 

“I think I will stick around for awhile.” Boone spoke softer than usual, looking out across the river.

“Alright.”


	7. Instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during legion ending

On a hill-top, a small cliff face to his back, was where he found himself 3 years after the second battle of Hoover Dam. A breeze blew by as he focused through his riflescope, keeping an eye on the men below. His red beret moved back a little, and without taking his eyes off his mark, he reached up and pulled it firmly back over his head.

The men below looked up, as if sensing something, but two loud bangs rang out before they could find exactly what they were looking for. 

Boone stood then, slinging his rifle over his back before making his way down the hill to where the two legionaries had fallen.

He made quick work of going through their things, finding only unused ammo and food. He would have preferred that they were carrying some type of info that could help him find the next centurion to take out, but simply having two legionnaires off the world was good enough for him.

He stood, preparing to make his way back to the nearest town then froze. He looked up to the ridges surrounding him, then moved quickly behind a rock a moment before a single shot rang out.

Boone crouched down behind the rock as a second shot rang out and reached behind him to grab his rifle. In his haste to get behind cover he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the shot had come from.

He stood still listening, but only heard the sound of the breeze traveling between the hills and across the leaves of what little vegetation grew. 

He looked around, trying to find something to help, then spotted a rock on the ground. He grabbed it and aimed at a nearby bush behind his hiding spot, then listened.

A third crack rang out between the hills somewhere to the left. He waited to see if they would shoot again but got nothing.

Boone gripped his gun tighter, pushed up his sunglasses then moved, peaking over the rock and firing a single shot. Just as he got behind the rock again, another responded. He cursed quietly before loading in a few more bullets, and peaking over the rock and firing twice in quick succession. He ducked again, then heard nothing. 

He had learned long ago not to just trust things, he needed evidence that he had taken out his assailant, so once more he stood and fired two rounds where the shots had come from. Before he could make the second shot though, he heard a crack, then the sound of a bullet ricocheting off a rock to his left. 

With his second shot, Boone heard a yell, then saw the landscape shift as a leather jacket revealed itself then began to skid down the hill. 

He didn’t wait for the person to regain their senses, as he fired a single round. The body went limp. 

Long ago in his hunt he had learned to never become too comfortable or convince yourself that you were along. Those lessons had only been solidified as the bounty on his head rose. 


	8. New Mutated Animal Species

“There’s reports that those located along Roosevelt Lake are planning a coup. I would like you and your men to annihilate all of those in the settlement. The mere idea of opposing The Legion will not be tolerated.”

“Of course, Caesar.” 

-

The party began their long march mere hours after receiving their orders, travelling forward without incident until they reached the edge where the 202 and 101 crossed. 

“Sir, what route shall we take to get there?” 

The centurion paused then called over their navigator.

“We have two options, we can take the 60 until it becomes the 188 or we can take the 88.”

“Which option is shortest?” The centurion asked.

“The 88, sir, but reports have shown that the route is dangerous.”

The centurion snorted, “Certainly it is not anything that the mighty Caesars finest can not handle.”

“Of course, sir” The navigator's voice was smooth, despite the uneasiness he felt about traveling that route. 

-

Once the cracked pavement gave way to dusty trails with only signs to lead them through, the Centurion scoughed. If the dangers with this road were only the cliffs then there was nothing to worry about. The party marched forward through the hills without complaint at his command, but the navigator remained skittish.

“Something on your mind?” One of the scouts asked as they set up camp for the evening.

The navigator jumped at the question, glancing around before his eyes settled on the other man. “Uh. No everything is alright.”

The scout laughed, reaching out to clap him on the shoulder, “Though you were getting a little queasy about our mission there for a moment,friend. Glad to hear you are alright.”

The navigator laughed nervously, “Yeah, no worries here.”

After that interaction, the navigator made more of an effort to appear calm to the rest of the group, eating his dinner then conversing with others in the party until night fully fell and he could settle down to rest.

But he didn’t, that night navigator lay awake, staring at the sky above. He closed his eyes for only a few moments, but then felt a strong gust of wind wash over him. His eyes snapped open staring at the sky. He swore he felt the breeze again, and along with it something had blocked out the galaxy from his eyes. Moments later the stars returned.

With only subtle movements of his head he looked around the camp and realized no one, not even those on watch had noticed the dark mass that had loomed over them moments before.

He feigned sleep that night, and come morning was one of the first packed and ready to go. His Centurion praised him for his efficiency, not noticing the nervousness that now surrounded the navigator. 

-

“Which route do we take?”

“Go straight ahead, to branch off would lead you to Apache Lake. We do not have a settlement there, so it is best not to waste our time.”

“You heard him!” The centurion called, and they marched forward.

-

Once the crumbled dam was spotted a few cheers rose from the group, as they realized the proximity to their destination and the bloodshed which awaited them.

The navigator felt another gust of wind and looked around, this time though he swore he caught a flash of crimson fly over the canyon above them, then disappeared.

They marched on.

-

“We will make camp here. Scouts, go forward and plan the best route of attack for us tomorrow. We will strike in the night.”

The scouts went forward without hesitation.

-

The navigator realized as he set up his bed that the scouts had yet to return and it was becoming clear that their centurion was becoming more and more agitated. 

He felt another guest of wind, then something fell from the sky and plopped down in the middle of the camp. A single arm.

He and the men around him, stood quickly, grabbing their arms, as another guest of wind passed them, this time he heard a scream to his left and snapped his head toward the sound just in time to see the shape of something winged with a long beak snatching up a man and carrying him away.

The Centurion made a call, commanding all men to take up arms and make a circular formation. The navigator however doubted that they would survive this encounter. He had heard the stories, seen the reports even, of the crimson demons that had defeated many legionnaires that had traveled along this route. 

Though the stories were only superstition, and were quickly stamped down to avoid fear within the Legions ranks.

Though something very real with crimson feathers, charcoal eyes, and a fiery beak had destroyed the Legion encampment that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a cardinal, but really big and it has an elongated beak! Anyway, that's it, thanks for reading y'all!


End file.
